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Evening jacket

Design House Schiaparelli French
Designer Elsa Schiaparelli Italian
winter 1938–39
Not on view
The evening suit was immensely popular during the five years leading up to the Second World War. Symbolizing urban chic, it epitomized the soignée style of Café Society. Highly photogenic, it enabled women to move freely and comfortably between the different sites of fashionability - the theatre, the restaurant and the nightclub.

In the decoration of this jacket, embroidered rococo hand mirrors with fractured faces, Schiaparelli conjoins the languages of historicism and surrealism to suggest a world on the verge of war. Horst's photograph of shattered glass reflecting a young girl acts as a counterpart to Schiaparelli's cracked set of mirrors. The girl's prayer-like pose, combined with the large Red Cross in the background, acts as an ominous prelude to the casualties of war.

Artwork Details

Object Information
  • Title: Evening jacket
  • Design House: Schiaparelli (French, founded 1927)
  • Designer: Elsa Schiaparelli (Italian, 1890–1973)
  • Date: winter 1938–39
  • Culture: French
  • Medium: silk, glass, plastic (cellophane, cellulose nitrate, phenolic resin)
  • Credit Line: Gift of Mrs. Pauline Potter, 1950
  • Object Number: C.I.50.34.2
  • Curatorial Department: The Costume Institute

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"Apollo of Versailles", Schiaparelli French, silk, metallic, French
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Designer Elsa Schiaparelli
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Saint Peter's Seen From the Pincio, Rome, Henri-Joseph Harpignies French, Pen and black ink, brush, gray and blue-gray washes
Saint Peter's Seen From the Pincio, Rome
Henri-Joseph Harpignies
1856
Evening ensemble, Elsa Schiaparelli Italian, Silk, rayon, metallic thread, tinsel, glass, plastic (cellulose acetate, cellulose nitrate, phenolic resin), French
Evening ensemble
Designer Elsa Schiaparelli
Department Store for Salon Moderne, Saks Fifth Avenue
1937–38
Necklace, Schiaparelli French, plastic (cellulose acetate), metal (tin), French
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Design House Schiaparelli
Designer Elsa Schiaparelli
Manufacturer Jean Clément
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